Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Stake Boosted by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,390 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,873 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Xcel Energy were worth $5,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XEL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 37,143,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,448 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON lifted its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 520.1% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 2,509,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,405 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Xcel Energy in the third quarter valued at $64,301,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,190,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,956,000 after buying an additional 892,740 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Xcel Energy by 1,265.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 839,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,797,000 after buying an additional 777,696 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XEL shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Xcel Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Xcel Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.64.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ XEL opened at $66.86 on Friday. Xcel Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.79 and a fifty-two week high of $73.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.35. The firm has a market cap of $38.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($0.01). Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Xcel Energy Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th were issued a dividend of $0.5475 per share. This represents a $2.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 6th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.99%.

Xcel Energy Profile

Xcel Energy Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, purchasing, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. It operates through Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility, and All Other segments. The company generates electricity through wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy sources, as well as coal, natural gas, oil, wood, and refuse-derived fuels.